ALBANY, N.Y. (NEWS10) -- For the first time this summer, 20 student journalists from SUNY schools around the state, took part in an internship program helping local news outlets cover stories.

"When you lose community news, you lose an identity," said George Giokas, an adjunct instructor at SUNY Stony Brook.

According to a 2024 report by Northwestern's Local News Initiative, more than 3,000 print newspapers have closed since 2005 around the county. These closures have created news deserts in some areas.

"Why not use journalism students to fill the holes to fill the gaps in local news? That’s how the initiative was born," explained Giokas.

SUNY’s institute for Local News is a program that does just that.

"We started with the official course last fall, community journalism that I teach,

See Full Page